New Tools for efficient recombinant protein production

Recombinant protein production is a key tool in biotechnology, where host cells are used to make proteins of medical importance. A good example is insulin, which is made industrially in bacteria, for use to treat diabetes. The project will investigate two areas related to this topic. First, we will develop and optimise processes using novel promoters for control of recombinant protein production. This will include scaling these processes up from small scale culture to bioreactors. We are interested in the stress imposed by these processes on bacteria, how this stress can be minimised, and how bacterial physiology can be improved. Second, we are interested in using feedback loops to develop optimised recombinant protein production processes and bacterial strains which can be more productive.